Monday B*fest 2/6

Re: Monday B*fest 2/6

Sorry I missed this from over a week ago!On day 3 his bilirubin was 14.4. Then the next day it went up to 17.1 and he was started on the bili blanket that day. Then day 5 it was 17.5 and he continued on phototherapy. On day 7 after being off his bili blanket for 6hrs it was down to 15.6. He was gaining weight too so he was able to discontinue his bili blanket that day.

Sorry for doing a BF when I haven't been the best participating bumpy lately ...

Baby girl was born Saturday and we were scheduled to go home Monday, but we were kept an extra day in the hospital because Hannah had elevated bilirubin levels. (They went from 8.6, to 11, to 14, to 16) So they did a 24 hour phototherapy session and when her levels went down (back to 14), we were released. That was Tuesday. Yesterday we went to the pediatrician who ran her levels again, and they were at 20. So we were readmitted last night and have been doing phototherapy ever since. Not sure when they'll let us go home now since her levels are barely moving. As for me, I saw my OB today and it turns out I have an infection where my perineal stitches are. Which sucks. Also, my blood pressure was 175/98 and my legs and feet are so so swollen..like 10x their normal size. And since I was induced due to pre-eclampsia, she put me on bedrest, both here in the hospital and when we get home.

@srscott3 so sorry to hear Hannah had to be readmitted! My DS1 had to be hospitalized for jaundice his first week and it was so scary and stressful.My new baby though also had/has jaundice but got to use a bili blanket phototherapy thing as home. (His levels got as high as 17.5). Maybe your doctor would get a home health service to deliver you one of those too so ay least you could all go home?

@srscott3 I don't know if it's related to being done with his phototherapy or not, but my 16 day old has now been pooping only every other day. He isn't straining or acting uncomfortable, so I wasn't worried. I've been more successful with BFing and using less formula, so I thought maybe that was the difference?

@srscott3 Austin quit pooping for 4 days after the meconium passed, and he only peed 3 times in that time frame as well. I asked our pediatrician because I was freaking out and he said it was normal, but since we were battling the high bilirubin numbers he told me to make sure Austin was eating no further apart than every 2 hours. Not sure how far your feedings are, but less than 12 hours of him eating every 2 hours he started peeing more often and shortly after that he started pooping again.

@srscott3 We're they turning her like a little rotisserie chicken under the lights? When Caroline was under them she was in her belly half the time with her legs tucked up and that position kept her from pooping. Once she returned to sleeping on her back things got moving again. Just a potential explanation

@FreshBakedBrownies that's what we thought too. I've been BFing almost exclusively, very little need to supplement with formula. Hopefully that's all it is. But our LO is straining and acting uncomfortable

@kswiger06 we're doing every 3 hours right now, but I may try to bring it down to 2 and see what happens. Hopefully she stays awake during feeds that are 2 hours apart. We can barely keep her awake for the ones 3 hours apart she would sleep 5 hours straight if we would let her. (Don't worry though, she's not lethargic or unresponsive. She has lots of open-eye awake time. The girl just likes to make her own sleep schedule)

@lemieuxk our pedi asked the same thing. But no, she was on her back the whole time she had the big light above her and the bilibed mat under her back

@PerraSucia I'm hoping this delay in pooping is just because we're doing more BFing now.

@srscott3 absolutely, any kind of sudden change like that is really distressing! I'm sorry if you felt like I was directing that comment at you or suggesting you should not worry about it; I was reading some of the responses to you and wishing my kiddo fell somewhere on that side of the range of normal. I hope Hannah has a poop soon and that she then falls into a pattern that is predictable and reassuring, and perhaps somewhat less than the 10+ a day

@srscott3 Austin was eating every 3 hours too, so when the Dr told me to increase it to every 2 hours I was very skeptical to how I would manage it. The Dr said that even if he eats smaller amounts during every 2 hours, it would still keep his body running having to constantly process it. If you try increasing the feedings, I hope she takes to it and it gets her body moving again.

@poetryandoceans oh don't worry girl, it takes a lot more than that to offend me I definitelyunderstand how crazy the 10+ times a day was. Hoping she can give me a solid 5-6 times a day and I'll be content.